Philippians 1 – To Live… or Not?

Today’s text contains an important saying of Paul that gives insight to his relationship with God and his motivation and priorities as a Christian. In 1:21 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” This is a very unnatural way of looking at life. The sermon focused mostly on Paul’s motivation and questioned our motivations in life.

Yet Paul’s final decision is found in v24. “it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.” Paul’s desire to escape death was not for his own comfort and enjoyment, but to enable him to serve others. Verses 25-26 expand on how he can encourage and help the Philippian church to mature. This really sets a very high bar for us. Is our purpose for living to help other people? Is this an ideal standard set by Paul? Don’t we need to care for ourselves before caring for others? Should serving others be our purpose for living? Do other Scriptures provide some context to Paul’s statement here?

Songs & Scripture

I’ll keep working on this, but here’s a few for the moment. I’m looking for songs that use the hope of heaven to inspire our life now (this could be a long list, so think of your “best fit”). Your suggestions are always appreciated.